“O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”
Happy Epiphanytide!
The Epiphany is celebrated January 6 and is sometimes referred to by the title “the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles” Manifest means something is readily perceived by the senses or easily understood or obvious. The Epiphany, therefore, is the celebration that Jesus is obviously and readily understood to be the Christ–God’s anointed, the Messiah, God’s chosen King and Savior who is anointed by the Holy Spirit.
The Epiphany, therefore, is all about the obviousness of God’s love, mercy, justice, and purpose for humankind in Jesus–the manifestation of Jesus as the light and life of the world. The obviousness of Jesus as the Christ is revealed in his teaching to love God and love neighbor; his ethic of self-sacrifice for the well-being of others, his call to serve the marginalized and care for the poor and hungry; his practice and guidance in humility, reconciliation, and peace-making. The obviousness of Jesus as the Christ is also, and perhaps most fully, realized in his willingness to suffer death even for those who despised his message of love, and his glorious resurrection where he overcame death even for those who rejected his way of love.
This is Jesus Christ, and this Jesus Christ should be obvious, manifest, to the world.
These days, however, the obviousness of ‘this‘ Jesus as the Christ and the manifestation of His example as the Light and Life of the World has become obscured. Jesus of the Epiphany has become the victim of identity theft; and what is “manifest” as “Christ”– often by the very people who claim the title Christian, is completely unrecognizable as Jesus the good shepherd; the suffering servant; the Word of God; the way, the truth and the life of the world.
The Epiphany is often overlooked as a season in our Church year. Some would even argue that it is no season at all, but a period of ordinary time following Christmas and carrying us to Lent. But these days I believe the Epiphany is even more important. Epiphany is OUR season, our time, and our calling to manifest the Jesus of the Gospels as the Christ. This is our season to make obvious that it is the way of Jesus who came to serve and not be served, to give and hold no accounts; to welcome and care for the lost, the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the outcast; to heal the sick, feed the hungry, give rest to the overburdened; it is THIS Jesus who revealed and makes near the true Kingdom of God for all people. This is our season to make Jesus Christ Manifest–Obvious–and revealed in us.
This Epiphanytide let us be intentional in how our witness to Jesus shines like that first Christmas Star. Let our light shine in the darkness of this world–a darkness that seeks to obscure the true light, doesn’t even recognize the true light, with the radiance of Jesus Christ–the Jesus Christ we meet in the Gospels. The True Light has come into the world. In that light let us manifest God’s love.
Let us manifest Jesus Christ.
*This Epiphany Season, I invite you to a practice of prayer and reflection centered on making Jesus Christ manifest in your life. My practice will be to light a candle at a convenient time in the evening, in my case as part of my practice of Evening Prayer, but you may choose some other context. I invite you to join me in lighting a candle and taking a few minutes of reflection on how you have witnessed and expressed the Light of Jesus Christ and His way of love in your day. How might you manifest Jesus as Christ more fully in your life? How have you seen or experienced the Light of Jesus Christ obscured or darkened? What might you do to break through that darkness? No hard fast rules, though, the important thing is to be present to the Light of Christ, and to seek His manifestation.